


But take comfort… for I am not alone.

by KailynBail



Series: Nas'Falon [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Post-Trespasser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:19:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6735913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KailynBail/pseuds/KailynBail
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of all things, there must be closure of some sort. While Solas knew that things were never fully done with Ellana... he never expected to face her again. Yet life has a funny way of coming back around on us... and the one who was far older than he pretended to be found that it had indeed come back around on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: So this is some serious Solas x Ellana Lavellan fluff. It's just a short story (7,263 word count) of Solas and Ellana (I just went with standard name here because honestly, I like it) at the end. The end of it all except leaving out the final meeting in Trespasser. I just skipped right over that when this popped in my head, so she still has her freaking arm! ;P Yes, it's fluffy and silly but it's aww. And yeah.

“Sir…” The elf leaned to try and catch his attention, she’d been in the middle of delivering her report on Inquisition movements, that they’d been moving into the area for quite some time was nothing new but recent spy reports put the _Inquisitor_ arriving this night. She had just finished saying as such when Solas’ gaze had shifted from her and to the distance where his eyes had gone unfocused and it became apparent that he had stopped listening. She drifted nearer and thought about reaching to touch his shoulder for he looked as though he had gone far from their station atop the hill… she had wondered how the news of the arriving Inquisitor would affect him. She had hoped that… well, there had been rumors that he’d grown close to this.. Lavellan, but she’d hoped that it had been only to secure this elven woman’s trust in him. So, maybe she had a bit of hero worship going on… but surely, this mighty leader of theirs hadn’t truly been interested in the leader of the Inquisition. That cursed faction that seemed to bend to the will of the Chantry. After all, it was _she_ who had fed him information in darkened corners of the hold. Met with him long after all had retired for the evening and it was _her_ information he had said he’d valued the most. “Sir…” She tried again, nearly reaching his shoulder with her outstretched fingers.

Solas had looked to the distance, where he knew the Inquisition’s lead camp lie… the information that this she-elf had delivered had caught him off guard. He… he hadn’t felt… the Inquisitor draw near. He sought her out in mind’s eye and felt… nothing. He felt the pin pricks of jealousy and desire coming from over his shoulder and lowered his brows at it. Fledglings… she’d nearly touched him when he turned to face her. “What.”

She jerked her hand back for the fierce look he gave her, but she held her nerve. “Should we send…”

“No.” Solas rose from his chair and made way out from under the cover of the tent. “Leave them, they are not here for us.” The lie rolled off his tongue sweet as honey.

“But Sir… the Inquisitor poses a threat that we cannot ignore any longer.” She was growing bold, she knew that… but she didn’t understand his insistence that they hold off their attacks on the Inquisition. Surely he saw the threat they posed.

Solas fought the urge to lash out at this ignorant child but only just. “But not a threat to us.” He continued walking away, aiming for the forest.

She decided that, perhaps now, she was to have the last word. “She will try to stop us.”

Solas stilled and turned to look at her. “Perhaps.”

The elf just blinked at him in disbelief. “Then it is imperative that we act while they are in the dark… we make the first move before she learns of…”

“Of what exactly?” Solas crossed his arms over his chest. “In all your time at Skyhold, did you learn nothing of the Harold?”

She took on the look of a sullen child. “I saw that she bent to the will of the Chantry… she chose Templars over Mages and left Briala to die.”

Solas stared at her for a moment. “Then you learned nothing. Leading something as large and complex as the Inquisition is not as easy as it may seem… the choices that she made… none were ideal and there were far more complications going on than you were willing to see. Briala chose her own fate when she began murdering elves for her own selfish ambition in an attempt to take the throne for herself. The Mages went to the Venatori and Corypheus willingly… and posed a lesser threat than the Templars. And she… she bent to no one.” The last was said darkly.. and protectively.

And she didn’t miss the tone. As he started to turn away, effectively ending the conversation she couldn’t help herself, she added one last quip. “Except to you.” _Rumors, my ass_. She thought.

Solas stilled and glanced over his shoulder slightly and only gave a bit of a nod. He continued on his path, trying to tell himself that he was _not_ going to double back within the shadows of the forest and head for the Inquisition’s camp. But he knew he was lying to himself. The she-elf had made a valid point… but one he didn’t want to admit. Ellana had bent to him… willingly. Guilt gnawed at him as he slid down a steep hillside and landed easily. He had no trouble making his way around the outskirts of her camp… but when he located her tent, he found it empty. His brow creased with confusion as he searched the figures around the fires, lingering around the mess tent… she wasn’t here. His scout’s information was rarely wrong… he spotted Blackwall and Varric… the Bull… so she must be here, somewhere.

He tracked her, he found a delicate boot print in the grass just beyond the camp leading away from her tent. Slightly heavy on one side… she’d been carrying something. He looked out into the moonlit forest and saw a creek in the distance. Of course, she’d gone to bathe, some things never changed. He’d nearly forgotten how far away from Skyhold they were. Ellana had always liked to ‘wash away the road’. He followed her trail easily enough… but didn’t dare leave the shadows of the underbrush. He found the creek but didn’t see her.. her trail ended at the bank. He inched himself out and looked down one way.. and then the other. Keen ears picked up the babbling of the water and a waterfall not too far away. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips… even after all this time, he still knew her. Or at least… her habits. He crossed the creek using the stones and hid amongst the trees, making his way up the creek to the falls. He was greeted with a forbidden sight… she was there. The waterfall, no more than a shower spray, cascading down moss covered slate catching the moonlight just so. Her silver hair was longer, nearly covering the whole of her back, coming to a peak just before… he cast his eyes down slightly but felt he could not look away. Her right side slightly to him, her face turned upwards, the water falling down over her lithe form. He inched closer, sliding under some of the underbrush. He watched as she bent down and picked up a lump of lye, his mouth went dry as he watched her soap up. She turned, eyes closed as if there wasn’t a care in the world but… when her left side went to him, he stopped and barely contained the inaudible gasp. The mark… it had spread… the faded veins trekked up her arm… and were into her shoulder and up into her neck.. the entire arm pulsed dimly. But… she didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she washed over it as.. if it were normal. He turned away and sat down in the dirt. His eyes flicked back and forth as he fell into deep thought… how could that have happened. It must have… been the Qunari… and their foolish dabbling in the elven magics that they had no business messing with. But… without the foci. How… he kept trying to riddle it out. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there but he was hyper aware of his thoughts being interrupted… by a curved, icy blade, slipping just under his jaw and pressing against his throat.

Ellana held the towel around her, bunched at the side with her marked hand while the other held the arched blade firmly. Her hair dripping as it laid down her back and some around her face. Unyielding green eyes and an expressionless face looked down at him.

Solas stilled… and looked up… he swallowed shallowly, as not to disturb the blade. True… he could have easily fade stepped away. Perhaps… but the look she was giving him was… so cold. “ _Vhenan…_ ” No sooner had the word left him did the very end of that blade pivot just so and give him a bit of a shave, though he had no need of one. He felt the warmth of a drop of blood slide down from under his chin… he saw the slightest movement of one of her brows… a challenge, a dare… and beyond that look of indifference, he saw her anger. He felt the sword grow colder…

What happened next was not something he’d ever be proud of… nor would he ever forgive himself for. A flash of his eyes and that sword of hers shattered, shock registered in her gaze but she recovered quickly. As did he. The she-elf that had badgered him earlier had followed, of course she had… though she’d had to track him for he’d moved much faster than she ever could. She sat atop a rocky outcrop and watched… wanting to assist… but just watched. Solas rolled and was on his feet, he had left his staff behind, having no need of it now that he was at his proper strength. Trellawni, the she-elf, wondered why he hadn’t unleashed fury upon the Inquisitor yet, _what was he waiting for_?!

Ellana still hadn’t given him an expression nor a word. A flourish of her free hand sent a bolt of untamed energy at him, not lightning nor frost, but a combination of the two, it’s trail weaved with faded magic. Her bare feet crossing one over the other as she moved, while casting, no staff… and no need to stand still, it came as easily as breathing… and it showed.

Solas rolled out of the way but still, he had to send out a deflection. He tilted his head at her in question… his brows going low just slightly. He watched her move, her demeanor and her stature. He saw the markings on her arm pulse in a rhythm that they hadn’t before… coursing with magic and realized… she’d harnessed this power. It was going to kill her one day… but until then, she had molded it… to her will. This magic she wielded, was now her own. And a kind he’d not seen in many ages. He forced the corners of his mouth not to turn upwards… she looked magnificent. Not to mention… with the towel and.. he gave a subtle shake of his head and sent a bolt of lightning at her, spinning as he did so, letting it fly free and true.

Ellana didn’t dodge, nor did she turn out of the way, she threw her hand out, the back of her forearm facing the lightning as it slammed against a fractal shield and simply splintered away from her, the seemingly invisible shield doing the same. She narrowed her eyes at him slightly as if to say… _oh, now it’s on._ Spells were leashed back and forth, neither successful in their marks though after a time… Solas suspected that it was perhaps… on purpose. They drew nearer to each other with each spell, the clearing they’d found themselves in becoming alive with stray magics, wisps forming and fluttering around them. Trellawni watched in awe at the magics being used… she’d never seen the Inquisitor in ‘action’ as it were. She truly did give their leader a run for his money. Perhaps that was the truth behind his reluctance to take action against her. She was indeed powerful. And she did so with one hand…

But Ellana was growing winded… and Solas knew it. While she held power… she hadn’t the endurance that he had. She was within arm’s reach when he loosed a fireball and she stepped a fraction too late, the fire grazing her shoulder, singing her flesh as she hissed. He faltered in his mind though his actions did not… but her reaction, what he had thought she’d do didn’t come to pass and she… surprised him.

Solas’ head snapped back with the blow… a backhand from her free arm, aimed slightly upwards, a surprisingly strong one. His mind kind of screeched to a halt on him… had she just… he tasted copper in his mouth. He looked back at her and saw… her anger. He felt her rage… and her pain… in fact, her anger was fueled by it. She raised her hand to come at him again but he snatched her wrist out of the air and turned her sharply, clamping an arm down around her only to have her kick her head back against his, making contact with his nose and pulling a strangled cry from him, he loosed his hold just slightly but it was enough. She spun away from him and bent into a crouch, her hair pooling on the grass as she glared at him, her elven ears going flat against the sides of her head, her brows low and her bare face.. holding more anger than he’d ever seen. But those forest green eyes… spoke of such agony. Solas crouched down and mirrored her, ready. He tried to calm himself… but it wasn’t working. She lit him up.. she always had. No matter the emotion… and now it was… none too pleasant. His anger was climbing… didn’t she understand what he was doing? No… how could she. How much could she know… to warrant this anger? Surely she knew something… If she was angry simply over him leaving… the injustice of it. What did she know of injustice? His upper lip twitched slightly before he lunged at her, and she at him. He grabbed her around the throat and took her with him, having the upper hand in the weight department. They landed hard on the earth and he pinned her beneath him. Her throat so slender in his grasp. She fought him, of course she did. Both of her hands wrapped around his wrist as his grip tightened, his free hand braced against the grass.

Trellawni stood up from her hiding place and watched… waiting for him to finish it.. her heart corrupt with coveting and jealousy.

Solas trembled from… all of it. He looked down at her evergreens and stilled… he felt her grip on his arm and realized that she wasn’t pushing him away… she was pulling him closer. He loosened his grip, noticing that she wasn’t gasping nor coughing… she wasn’t actually fighting.

“Do it.” Ellana’s voice was hoarse and barely there… tears welled on her lower lashes and spread to the edges of her eyes. When he just stared down at her she dug into his arm with her blunt nails. “Finish what you started.. for once… _dread… wolf._ ” She hissed the last at him.

Solas’ features contorted just slightly and his hold did tighten a bit. He felt that cursed she-elf up on the hill willing him to do just as Ellana had said, though he knew she hadn’t heard her. The way she hissed out his demeaning title… she wasn’t begging for death… she was demanding it. Commanding him. When he stilled yet again she shook as she tightened her own grip on his arm.

“ _Do it!!!”_ Her voice came out shaking, cutting out as she yelled at him, her eyes closing as tears spilled down the side of her face.

Solas bowed his head and jerked his hand free of both her hold and her neck, sinking it into the grass like his other hand instead.

“No!” She reached for his arm, tugging at it. She rolled slightly beneath him, but he didn’t move. He became some sort of weird… Solas cage. “ _Fenedhis…_ ” She slapped at his arm in an attempt to get it to move.

Trellawni heard her exclamation for him to ‘do it’ clear enough… and saw him relinquish the upper hand. Her brows went low… even as she denied the truth that was unfolding before her.

Solas shook his head at her. “ _Vhenan…_ ”

Ellana shot a look at him and tried to move out from under him but found that… she couldn’t, he wouldn’t allow it. “Stop calling me that.”

Solas looked down at her and shifted, resting on his elbows and brushing some of her hair from her brow as she jerked away from his touch. “It is what you are to me.”

“Liar.” She nearly spat at him. “You left. Remember?… You cannot leave your heart.” She kept shifting, trying to push him off of her but he was… stubborn.

Solas shook his head. “There is so much you do not understand.”

“I don’t have to understand… I understand this.” She held her marked hand up. “I understand two years of being alone. That’s all I need to understand.”

“You are being selfish. This is about more than you and I.” He ground out, anger lacing his words.

“Don’t speak to me like I’m some child…” She glared up at him. “What’s going on in the world is obviously more than you and I… but this…” She gestured in what little room she had between them. “Has nothing to do with any of that.”

“Yes it does.” He stressed, growing frustrated.

“No… it doesn’t.” She countered. “That’s one of the big differences between you and I…” She shook her head. “You lived in my heart… the Inquisition and the rest of the world… they were in my mind. That and…” She paused as a fissure of pain slid across her features. “I didn’t _use_ you.”

Solas was steadily shaking his head in denial. He was posed to argue further but.. those last few words seemed to lock him up. His muscles strained as he looked at her sharply. He swallowed down the tightness in his throat. “You think that is what happened?”

Ellana looked upwards and rolled her lips inward slightly. “There’s no _thinking_ that’s what happened, Solas… I was there…” She shook her head at him with an incredulous look.

Solas’ breathing kicked up at that, he looked at her in disbelief. “Leaving you… was the hardest thing.. I have ever done.”

“But you still did it.” Ellana looked away from him, she didn’t want to see his face… nor the torment that was creeping into his eyes.

His eyes slid closed as he tilted his head to the side just so, he didn’t need to be reminded and… he saw the jab for what it was. He shoved off the ground and away from her, climbing to his feet as he fumed. He watched as she gathered the towel again and likewise rose, tucking the tail of the fabric in to secure it so she could cross her arms over her chest, a move he’d seen more than once and knew that she often did it out of self comfort rather than defensiveness. He walked away a bit, rubbing at the back of his neck before turning on her. “If you would just listen…”

“Listen to what? More _lies_? More… _excuses_? Spare me. If you give me nothing else… give me the truth Solas. I think you owe me that much.” Ellana squared her shoulders, making it apparent she wasn’t going to let him get away with this easily.

“What makes you think that?” He placed his hands on his hips, knowing full well that he owed her far more than that but knowing too… that he was far too prideful to ever admit it openly.

Ellana sighed as she gave him a droll stare, holding up her marked hand with a slightly raised brow and thinned lips as if to say.. _dude… seriously._ But she answered anyway. “You mean, aside from ultimately being responsible for my current… condition…” She shook her head at him with a certain look of disbelief mixed with hurt. “You broke my heart.” She refolded her arms and gave a bit of a shrug. “Perhaps it is a bit selfish of me… but I believe that entitles me to know why. And I’m not talking about your plans to.. remake the world or… whatever equally insane plans you have. I want to know why _you_ left. Why _you_ thought… that… it was somehow… the best path.”

Solas didn’t shy away from her example but.. he’d wanted to. He had been ready to speak but those three words.. _broke my heart_ echoed around inside of him. He frowned just so… and when she continued… he shook his head at her assessment of his endeavor. He was poised to counter just that but then she went on again… and his mind went blank. He… didn’t have an answer. Well, he did… but… he wouldn’t admit it. He opened his mouth but only closed it again, shaking his head. He took a step towards her as he watched her run her hand up her own arm and turn her head, settling her chin into her shoulder, her hair, now starting to dry, shifting as it fell around her face. He never could stand to see her sink into herself whenever she was hurting. He had come up in front of her and was reaching for her easily when he heard the taught string of a bow being pulled back and an arrow being set loose. His hand flew out just in time to deflect an arrow that was flying through the air and heading right for Ellana’s face. His brow was instantly low and a sneer on his face, his ears pinned back as he pivoted and stood in front of her. Ellana’s features were more shock than anger but Solas’ eyes burned with rage.

Trellawni stepped out of the woods with another arrow knocked and ready. “ _I knew it_ … you’ve allowed your feelings for this.. _Inquisitor_ to cloud your judgment. Since you cannot do what needs to be done for our mission to succeed, I.. I will do it…” Her voice was shaking as were her hands but the look in her eyes was near madness, jealousy and anger evident.

Ellana moved to step around Solas… but he reached his arm slightly behind him and took hold of her side and kept her behind him without so much as a glance. His eyes remained fixed on the newcomer. “Trellawni… Your loyalty has earned you a single warning. Go now… another attack will not be forgiven.”

Trellawni faltered slightly. “You protect her? Even now? The.. _Inquisitor_?” The indignation in her voice was evident.

“I protect what is mine.” He ground out, hoping that she’d walk away but knowing that she wouldn’t.

Trellawni shook her head and drew her bow anyway, she never got to shoot it. A flash of his eyes and she simply turned to stone. Ellana stepped out from behind him and looked at the statue with her mouth slightly opened… and then to Solas. He stood there seemingly calm… but he avoided her gaze.

“What is yours…” She raised her brows at him… of course she didn’t feel bad for that elf… she’d tried to shoot her when she wasn’t even looking. And given the way she’d been shaking, it wouldn’t have been a clean shot. Granted, she’d wanted to die… to rid herself of the pain… but she didn’t want to suffer.. hence why she wanted to depart this world. But his words still bounced around her head.

Solas glanced at her unapologetically… the words had come forth without thought, as simple truth.

Ellana shook her head at him. “No.” She moved away from him, back towards where she’d left her clothes, brushing past undergrowth and tree branches alike.

Solas took a breath, trying to calm himself before he followed. _Yes._ The argument raged on in his mind. “Ellana…”

She glanced over her shoulder and shook her head. “I am many things, Solas… but that is not one of them… you lost that… you don’t get to throw me away and then say that I am yours. I belong to no one.” She nearly tripped over a fallen log but caught herself roughly. She was unraveling quickly.

Solas ducked below a low hanging branch. “I did not.. throw you away.” _You belong to me._

“Right, sorry… you.. had more important matters to attend to.” She slapped at a random branch angrily. “Call it what you will… it matters little.”

He was growing frustrated… how could he make her understand. _He_ didn’t matter, what he was doing… was for all of their people. His feelings? They didn’t matter, not in the grand scheme of things. If he could have taken a different path, gone a different way and have both, he would have. The branch she had slapped came back and slapped _him_ in return. “Ellana… Ellana, stop.” He reached for her arm, ensnaring it by the elbow and pulling her to a stop.

“What?!” She turned on him, she didn’t want to deal with him… or his excuses… the pain he stirred within her. Pain she had worked so hard to push down and bury deep within her shattered heart.

“Just stop and listen to me…” He tightened his hold when she started to try and pull away from him.

Ellana twisted her arm, shaking her head. “There’s nothing to say… can’t you understand that?”

She wasn’t giving him the chance to even try and reach her… she’d built this wall around her heart, locking it away from everything… and he felt it, as real as if it were truly there. She kept fighting to be free of his hold which only made him clamp his hand down more fiercely.

“Let go!” She leaned away from him, desperation becoming evident in her voice as she took hold of his wrist with her other hand, tying to wrench him off of her.

His brows had gone low and dark as he pulled her towards him. “No.”

Ellana shoved against him as he brought her to him, shaking her head at him, hating that her vision had started to go blurry again. _Damn him…_

Solas took hold of the back of her neck with his free hand and forced her closer, descending upon her lips with his own as he captured them, remembering well the taste of them. Honey and wild, forest and life. He felt her hold on his wrist tighten but she didn’t try to pull away any longer and that… that alone made him shudder. He broke away as his breathing sawed out of him. “You belong to me… you will always… be mine.” The way she had stilled as she looked up at him.. he saw the distrust there in her gaze.. the pain… the memories… and the foolish hope mixed with dread. He felt her release his wrist and lay her hand on his chest… and above all, he felt her love for him. Still strong.

Ellana trembled against him, looking up into his eyes and seeing him there… she tried not to let the frown come but it did anyway. Silver tears slid down her cheeks as she lifted her other hand to his face, skirting her touch over his features, him having released her. His arms slid around her easily.. her voice came out in not but a whisper. “There you are…” It was as if… the man she’d been dealing with was… not quite him, someone else… and Solas felt the same way. Deep inside, he knew.. if he could just… get close enough..

Solas felt his heart crack open a bit as he felt his own tear slide down between her hand and his cheek… he turned and nuzzled against her hand, his eyes hooded as he parted his lips to breath her in. “ _Emma Lath_.” My Love.

In the distance, Varric had gone to check on the Inquisitor… he’d been worried… and he saw them in the moonlight that sliced through the canopy. He wore an expression of alarm mixed with concern… all wrapped up with awe. He’d never witnessed… what he swore was… love. Actual, no shit… for real.. not in a book.. love. The way they stood there, just looking at each other, lazily embracing. Staring as though neither thought the other real. Much had been said about baldy these past few years… but Varric didn’t see the need to interrupt or even speak of what he saw. He returned back to the camp and lied. Saying he spoke with the Harold and that she was fine, but wanted to be left alone for awhile.

Ellana’s breath hitched as she leaned into him, his brow lowering to rest against hers. “I’ve missed you…” She whispered in the small space between them.

Solas pulled her closer and held her tighter, dipping his face into her hair as if he could hide from the world. “And I you…” He knew, he had always known… that if he could just get her here, right here in his arms... if he could feel her touch… that everything would melt away from them. And it did… just as it always had. That was one of the ways she’d ensnared him those few years ago. She… calmed him down. He pulled away and smoothed her hair away from her face and shook his head. “I should have… taken you with me…”

Ellana gave a bit of a smile. “Yes… you should have.” She shook her head and looked downwards. “I’ve been.. lost. And this… mark… it’s killing me.” She frowned a bit. “Everyone doesn’t want to say it… but I know it is.” She shook her head.

Solas sighed heavily, looking up for a second before down at her. “I am here now.” He reached for her chin and made her look up at him. He wanted to tell her that… he’d been just as lost without her with him. That he’d spent countless nights looking off into the distance… his mind seeking her out every night but never finding her. “I am going to save you.” He whispered to her… he didn’t know if he could, he wasn’t sure… but he was going to do everything he could. And he meant it. But he saw the doubt in her eyes… and he didn’t blame her for it. He bent low and took hold of her lips again.

He buried his hands in her hair as he slowly explored her mouth, stealing her breath and feeling her go lax against him. Her hands roamed from the back of his own neck down the front of his chest and to the hem of his tunic.. he felt the fabric shift and his eyes rolled slightly when he felt her hands on his hips, her fingers on his skin as they wound around his back and upwards just slightly. He took in a breath and pulled her closer, the movement swaying both of them. He guided them down to the soft grass beneath them, on his knees he parted the kiss to pull his tunic off, the cool air biting at his skin, his talisman scraping against his chest as he reclaimed her lips and his hands went to her towel. He released the flap of fabric and held it in place, letting it fall slowly as he slid his hands along her form. He trembled slightly… he’d never touched her. It was the line he’d drawn for himself long ago… he’d never lay with her under false pretenses. But she knew now… she knew it all. And here she was, sighing against him. He left her lips and kissed a trail to her neck, her hands roaming over his back and to the back of his neck and the base of his skull. He whispered to her as he laid her down onto the grass. “ _Ar lath ma._ ” I love you. And he meant it… he’d always meant it.

 _“Ar lath ma… ara vhen’an_.” -She returned as she held him close. He supported his weight with one forearm in the grass, his other hand gripped at her hip before traveling further down her leg and then around to her inner thigh as he shifted to place himself between her legs properly. He felt himself straining against his leggings as he settled, he dipped his mouth further down as his hand met him upon her chest, he took his time slowly ravishing her breasts. Her sighs and moans, the way she began pulling at him had him pressing himself against her and soon her hands were between them, unlacing his trousers and his hands replaced hers when he took her lips once more. A few kicks of his legs and shifting this way and that and he was free of the bindings that stood between them. He rose up on his forearms above her, smoothing her hair back with his hands and kissing her lips gently after he positioned himself at her opening, which had taken a moment, his eagerness evident as was hers.. the urge to take her had been almost too great to stave. But he wanted to look into her eyes when he joined her.. and so he did. He pulled back from a gentle kiss, so tender… the way she looked up at him… and his look to her… unrivaled. His lips parted as he panted, trying desperately to stay in control as he thrust into her completely. The way she moved beneath him, how she tightened around him, it nearly broke him. All his long years… he’d never hoped to find her. And here she was… he’d had her.. and she had been right, he’d walked away from her. Now that he had her in his arms again… no one was going to come between them again. He wrapped his arms around her further, sliding one of his knees up, lifting her leg as he soon found a steady rhythm. He cradled the back of her head with one hand as he moved, her breaths and sounds, the way she held onto him, how she scored his back with her nails… how he found himself biting into her shoulder as the intensity grew. The way his muscles bunched and released as he rocked against her, how she arched her back against him… the forest around them, the moonlight and stray wisps.. all created a setting unlike any other. He couldn’t be sure how long he had her beneath him… nor could she be sure. She’d called out his name against his shoulder as their muscles strained against each other at least twice before he felt himself grow near… his brow upon hers as he looked into her eyes, vibrant and alive, aglow with desire and intensity… both of them were. Something changed within him though… it caught him off guard but he was powerless to stop it.. the mood around them shifted as his thrusts became more purposeful… one of his hands went to her hair as he took a fist full of it and pinned it to the earth beneath them.. he lifted himself with his other, his palm sinking into the grass as he gripped it by the roots. His knees digging into the earth as he drove himself into her at a steady, more fevered pace. She’d held fast to his shoulders, her arms reaching up to grip her fingers around them from behind. His abdomen strained as he moved, sweat blooming out over his body as the sweet scent of them wafted around them, blending with the scent of the forest they found themselves in. He seemed to grow desperate with his movements, his hand left her hair and gripped her hip, as if to hold her there. “ _Ara vhen’an…_ ” He managed to force out as he felt himself uncoil, his seed spilling within her as he forced himself in as far as he could, so much so that he slid her further into the grass, as if he could go any further within her, he growled at his release, still his hips moved, though not as vivacious.

Once he finally stilled, their muscles trembled, steam rising from his back as both were covered in sweat. He relaxed down against her as he slid from her, curling around her. He shifted around and reached for her towel.. frowning at the small fabric. He glanced at her smirk and gave his own, a wiggle of his fingers and it grew ten fold into a thick blanket. He draped it over them and pulled her close, snuggling down against her, more sated than he had ever been. Ellana settled against him, resting her head on his arm as he slid one around her side, placing her back against his chest. After some time, and once she’d caught her breath she shifted slightly and turned her head to look up at him, he had his head propped up on his hand, supported by his elbow. He raised his brows in a silent ‘what?’.

“So.. that… was… intense…” She led on… yeah, she’d noticed it.

Solas blushed… he.. actually blushed. He let his head fall as he hid his face against the back of her neck, burying it in her hair before speaking behind her ear, though the words were muffled. “I missed you.” He lifted his head back up to look down at her… she’d always pulled his youth from him, as if it had been slumbering deep within him.

Ellana gave a bit of a smile. “I missed you as well.”She turned in his hold so she could face him properly.

Solas captured her hand and kissed her fingers gently before he placed a likewise gentle kiss to her palm, over the mark. “Ellana… I’ll never chose another… I’ll never love another… I never have until you.”

Ellana softened a bit. “Nor I.”

Solas looked down at her and wore… an odd look. Not sad.. nor angry.. it was.. complex. He tightened his hold on her. “Have I…” He swallowed his nerves. “Have I proven myself.. worthy of you?” His words were held low and the crease on his brow was present, showing his worry.

Ellana stilled at the question… the seriousness… and the look on his face. She thought about why the Inquisition was even out here… they had been hunting him… and he knew that, surely. They had met with the council… they were going to be disbanded… everyone knew that. This one.. loose end to tie up. She thought about her friends… those she had grown so close with over the past few years. All that they had been through. She thought about how they had stopped the Qunari… and about Solas’ plans for the future. She thought about the mistakes he had made… the mistakes _she_ had made. She looked between his eyes, her own flicking between the two before she answered. Solas waited for the answer for what felt like an eternity… he knew she was thinking about everything that had happened… and everything that would happen… but the answer came. “Yes.”

Solas released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together, placing it over his heart. “Ellana… _ara vhen’an_ … bond with me.” He asked… or commanded.. or was it a plea, a desperate prayer… even he wasn’t sure, perhaps it was all three… he knew of her people’s ways and while they may be unlike what he was used to, he knew what it would mean for her.

Ellana looked at him with all the seriousness of the words he had spoken. For them… well, for her people… bonding was for life… thus, it was not something to be taken lightly. But, who was she kidding… she was already bound to him. And she told him as much. “I am already bound to you… Solas, for all eternity.”

Solas’ breath caught in a hitch as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it and then her lips. “And I to you… forever.” He whispered against her lips before kissing them again, the trees around them swayed as a silent wave went out, the wind rustling the trees all the way to the Inquisition’s camp where Varric still sat by the fire, awake… he looked up and felt the heat in the wind.. finding it curious but nothing more. The dwarf eventually nodded off…

The dawn saw scouts sent out to the creek, Varric, Blackwall and the Bull among them. They found the Inquisitor’s mantel folded neatly on a rock beside the falls, her medal of commendation that she had received at the summit laid delicate atop it along with a scroll addressed to “My Closest Companions” in Ellana’s fine script. Varric pocketed the scroll and waited until they were all together before he unrolled it and read it aloud..

                “ _My dear friends…_

_Know that it is with a heavy heart that I leave all of you. I am sure that my futile attempts to hide my condition from each of you has failed and all of you are aware of the mark’s progression. If I had stayed… my fate would have been sealed. With the decision to rightfully disband the Inquisition, there is no longer a need for an Inquisitor. Please understand my choice to leave. Had I the time, I would have spoken to each of you individually… alas, time has not been my friend as of late. But each and every one of you will always have a special place in my heart. But take comfort… for I am not alone._

There was a collective confusion that rippled through the tavern, especially as Varric’s features shifted. “And…” he cleared his throat. “Solas.. writes…” there was more than one gasp but he continued… gripping the edges of the paper.

                _“I must express my deepest gratitude, to all of you… for taking great care with, what you all would call, my wife. When the time comes… I pray I find none of you on the battle field. ~Fen’Harel.”_

Varric let his hand fall, the letter tumbling down. No one spoke for quite awhile until Cole stepped forward. He cleared his throat and removed his hat.

“He loves her. _Twisted this way and that but now, no more… a clear path, true and straight, better, braver, stronger for her…_ She will show him a better way.” Cole looked around at them, all their faces… some were grim… some were angry.. and more than one had tears falling down them. “Don’t… don’t be sad… or angry… or worry for her. He is hers… and she is his… this was… always how it was going to be.”

Cassandra was the one to speak next. “But he _lied_ to us… to her… to everyone.”

“He was afraid.” Cole replied easily. “He was afraid of everyone knowing who he was… what he had planned… he was weak. And then… he met her.. he met all of you.. and you all started to tug at his mind, pull at the strings of his plan.. but her… she changed everything. She is his..” Cole searched for the word but.. was grasping, he couldn’t find it.

Cullen was the one to speak up.. “Everything.”

Everyone turned and looked at him oddly. He squirmed, shifted and then explained. “I heard him call her that… when trying to explain what she was to him to Mother Gizelle… a few years ago… back when… well..” He cleared his throat.


	2. Artwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moderate NSFW Artwork (booty warning ;)

  
[Take Comfort](http://tes331.deviantart.com/art/Take-Comfort-654898390) by  [Tes331](http://tes331.deviantart.com/) on [DeviantArt](http://www.deviantart.com)


End file.
